So......
Here I am at my computer again. Writing another blog so that the in-firmed have something to read. I have something I actually want to talk about so here we go!
Why is it so difficult for some people to follow the rules?
With a couple of notable exceptions, I have always been a rule follower. Whether it be traffic laws, the general rules of dating when I was much younger, Doctors' orders, or even the rules about what to, and more importantly not to put in the microwave, I have always been a little bit of a stickler for the rules. While I will admit to a willingness to bend these rules to suit me (sometimes in a pretzel-like fashion) I very rarely broke them. When I did break them, I usually had the good sense to create a secondary set of rules to protect me from any consequences of breaking the primary ones.
Now, I know breaking the rules can be fun. And sometimes, you just have to break the rules. It's a compulsion. Sometimes you just have to beat your chest and prove your dominance over the ones who set the rules in the first place. But in such cases, I have a rule of my own that dictates when it is, or is not appropriate to prove one's Alpha-Ness: Does the person who made this rule know better than me?
I see it at work all the time. People flaunting their rule-braking ways to show off how cool they think they are when really, they might just be acting a little stupid. For instance: we have a machine at work called "Big Joe" (I shit you not) and it's one of those big, elevator platform thingies to get televisions and what not down from where they rest in high places around the store. Now, whenever you're using said machine, you have to have the chains on the platform in place, you have to have your safety harness around your waist, and you have to have a spotter on the floor to make sure that you don't kill any toddlers when you come back down. (Stupid lawsuits) I follow all these rules because they just make sense. But I regularly see people every day breaking one or more of these safety rules. Why? Does it really set you up as a badass rebel to put yourself and any people around you in danger? Don't you think that the person who made up these rules knew better than you? Let's face it: Most of us are pretty fucking stupid. I'm always going to trust that someone who deals with safety protocols, went to medical school, or had any specific training for their field knows more about that field than I do. Ergo do what they say and don't rock the fucking boat!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Camping Trip
So.......
I just got back from my very first camping trip. And before I get to telling you all about the trip, I just wanted to touch on something.
As I have mentioned, this is my very first real camping trip. The closest I have come to camping before this was getting about an hour's worth of sleep the night before a large music festival. It was in the parking lot of the Texas Motor Speedway and it was in a tent, but it was an hour people. Now when I have told people in the past that I had never been camping, the response was always one of total shock. "What?!?! You have never been camping?!?!?" is the response I almost always got. Then, the person I was talking to would talk all about how great it was, and I had to do it once just to be able to say I had no interest in it. (I've never bungie jumped, strangled myself while masturbating, or killed another human being either, but I'm pretty sure I don't have to try them to make sure I have no interest in doing these things.....or do I?) So my trip this week was almost more about shutting these people up than actually getting out and enjoying nature. I've been now. And guess what? It was alright. Nothing to get too excited about mind you, but reasonably fun and I wouldn't be at all opposed to doing it again. The thing I find amusing is that people got so worked up about the fact that I had never been. As if it was some life-changing event that all people must go through. But really? It wasn't much different than being at home. Just more nature. And fuck nature. I love being outdoors, I just wish it didn't have so much nature. Trees, foliage of all kinds really, mountains, these are things I love. Also, building up a fire is pretty cool. But you can have bugs, snakes, and the persistent threat of wild animal attacks. I mean, I'm no dummy. Despite the wife's objections, when camping or doing any deep-woods hiking, I insist on being....prepared (Douglas knows of what I speak) to deal with these things. But I could avoid these things all together by looking at the trees in my apartment complex, walking to the end of my block and looking at the mountains, or building a tiny little fire in my fireplace:
The shoe is in there for scale. It's a size 11 1/2. When I say tiny fire, I mean tiny fire.
But with my griping aside, I still had a great time! Let me tell you about it:
We started out loading more than I can think any 2 people could use over the course of 24 hours into our car. We then drove for about forever to the tiny little campground at Belair Lake, northwest of Fort Collins, CO. There was only one other camper in the "No RV" section, so we were pretty content with the spot that we picked out. (When I say we, I mean the wife of course) We proceeded to pitch the tent (which until that moment, I had only done with a sheet, and usually first thing in the morning) which I insisted on doing myself with just questions being answered by the wife. Eventually, the wife grew tired of my not doing it just right, and jumped in to help, but I managed to get it done mostly solo.
Real roughing it calls for a king-size air mattress filling the floor of the tent.
Then we decided we would go for a quick hike where we saw many cool things. First, there was this mega-sweet view that we would re-visit later:
I'm very excited.
We found a lake:
Then, I decided I would try my hand at rock climbing:
I'm so Xtreme!
Sittin on a log.
Here I am traipsing through the "wilds":
She's getting pretty good at taking those pictures of the 2 of us. Even if it does usually take her about 10 tries.
Then it was decided that it was time to gather firewood for our evening cookout and morning coffee. As the entire area had recently been ravaged by pine beetles, there was plenty of wood to go around (even though we did have to chop some of it off of fallen trees) and very soon we had a very nice collection of combustion fuel. This is when I got to truly shine, for I am the Master of Fire!
Gettin it ready!
After the fire was set up, I figured I'd teach the wife how to play Backgammon. Fucking beginner's luck!
Dinner Time!
Being my first outing into the world of camping, we decided to go pretty simple with the food. All we did, were some Hebrew National Hot dogs, and some foil packed diced potatoes, garlic, and butter. Yummy!
Now, you may have noticed that I threw the ol' Under-Armour on. The temperature was steadily dropping and by the time the sun went down things were getting pretty chilly.
Here's the aforementioned view revisited:
As you can imagine, as the temperature was dropping, my masterfully built fire was more and more important:
The we were off to bed! I wiggled into my brand-new sleeping bag to pose for some photos for the wife:
We were going to get in some quality tent-snuggles, but the cold just kept making us laugh:
So this is what our tent snuggles looked like:
Then in the morning it was time to make a new fire so that we could have coffee. But it was cold!
Does this Balaclava make me look fat?
Finally! Coffee!
After breaking down the camp it was time to get in the car and go home:
Don't I look happy?
I just got back from my very first camping trip. And before I get to telling you all about the trip, I just wanted to touch on something.
As I have mentioned, this is my very first real camping trip. The closest I have come to camping before this was getting about an hour's worth of sleep the night before a large music festival. It was in the parking lot of the Texas Motor Speedway and it was in a tent, but it was an hour people. Now when I have told people in the past that I had never been camping, the response was always one of total shock. "What?!?! You have never been camping?!?!?" is the response I almost always got. Then, the person I was talking to would talk all about how great it was, and I had to do it once just to be able to say I had no interest in it. (I've never bungie jumped, strangled myself while masturbating, or killed another human being either, but I'm pretty sure I don't have to try them to make sure I have no interest in doing these things.....or do I?) So my trip this week was almost more about shutting these people up than actually getting out and enjoying nature. I've been now. And guess what? It was alright. Nothing to get too excited about mind you, but reasonably fun and I wouldn't be at all opposed to doing it again. The thing I find amusing is that people got so worked up about the fact that I had never been. As if it was some life-changing event that all people must go through. But really? It wasn't much different than being at home. Just more nature. And fuck nature. I love being outdoors, I just wish it didn't have so much nature. Trees, foliage of all kinds really, mountains, these are things I love. Also, building up a fire is pretty cool. But you can have bugs, snakes, and the persistent threat of wild animal attacks. I mean, I'm no dummy. Despite the wife's objections, when camping or doing any deep-woods hiking, I insist on being....prepared (Douglas knows of what I speak) to deal with these things. But I could avoid these things all together by looking at the trees in my apartment complex, walking to the end of my block and looking at the mountains, or building a tiny little fire in my fireplace:
The shoe is in there for scale. It's a size 11 1/2. When I say tiny fire, I mean tiny fire.
But with my griping aside, I still had a great time! Let me tell you about it:
We started out loading more than I can think any 2 people could use over the course of 24 hours into our car. We then drove for about forever to the tiny little campground at Belair Lake, northwest of Fort Collins, CO. There was only one other camper in the "No RV" section, so we were pretty content with the spot that we picked out. (When I say we, I mean the wife of course) We proceeded to pitch the tent (which until that moment, I had only done with a sheet, and usually first thing in the morning) which I insisted on doing myself with just questions being answered by the wife. Eventually, the wife grew tired of my not doing it just right, and jumped in to help, but I managed to get it done mostly solo.
Real roughing it calls for a king-size air mattress filling the floor of the tent.Then we decided we would go for a quick hike where we saw many cool things. First, there was this mega-sweet view that we would re-visit later:
I'm very excited.We found a lake:
Then, I decided I would try my hand at rock climbing:
I'm so Xtreme!
Sittin on a log.Here I am traipsing through the "wilds":
She's getting pretty good at taking those pictures of the 2 of us. Even if it does usually take her about 10 tries.Then it was decided that it was time to gather firewood for our evening cookout and morning coffee. As the entire area had recently been ravaged by pine beetles, there was plenty of wood to go around (even though we did have to chop some of it off of fallen trees) and very soon we had a very nice collection of combustion fuel. This is when I got to truly shine, for I am the Master of Fire!
Gettin it ready!
After the fire was set up, I figured I'd teach the wife how to play Backgammon. Fucking beginner's luck!
Dinner Time!
Being my first outing into the world of camping, we decided to go pretty simple with the food. All we did, were some Hebrew National Hot dogs, and some foil packed diced potatoes, garlic, and butter. Yummy!
Now, you may have noticed that I threw the ol' Under-Armour on. The temperature was steadily dropping and by the time the sun went down things were getting pretty chilly.
Here's the aforementioned view revisited:
As you can imagine, as the temperature was dropping, my masterfully built fire was more and more important:
The we were off to bed! I wiggled into my brand-new sleeping bag to pose for some photos for the wife:
We were going to get in some quality tent-snuggles, but the cold just kept making us laugh:
So this is what our tent snuggles looked like:
Then in the morning it was time to make a new fire so that we could have coffee. But it was cold!
Does this Balaclava make me look fat?Finally! Coffee!
After breaking down the camp it was time to get in the car and go home:
Don't I look happy?
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Breakfast
So........
The wife woke up this morning before me, (I swear she gets up at five) went into the living room to read, then promptly fell asleep again. I got up and moved around a bit, and was bored out of my mind. When she finally woke up, she asked me to make her French Toast. Being the progressive, wonderful man that I am, I said sure. As I'm sitting there making the stuff, it occurred to me that, though I'm good at making a variety of breakfast things, I just don't like breakfast. Or more accurately, I don't like breakfast in the morning.
I just can't seem to get excited about eating first thing in the morning. Bacon, eggs, omelets, sausages, the aforementioned French Toast; These are all things I love, just not first thing in the morning. The only thing I'm interested in at that time of day is coffee. Why is it, that all these wonderful things are morning foods? I'll agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it should just happen around noon is all I'm saying.
Even most restaurants only offer their yummy goodness portions of the menu in the mornings. Why do they not want my money in the afternoon? It's a conspiracy. We as a people should demand that they offer breakfast at all hours of the day like Denny's, only not as crappy. (That's right. I said it. Denny's is crap. I cook better breakfast in my sleep.) So what if I want bacon and hash browns at 3 in the afternoon? To quote one of the great lost bards: "It's my prerogative!"
That is all.
The wife woke up this morning before me, (I swear she gets up at five) went into the living room to read, then promptly fell asleep again. I got up and moved around a bit, and was bored out of my mind. When she finally woke up, she asked me to make her French Toast. Being the progressive, wonderful man that I am, I said sure. As I'm sitting there making the stuff, it occurred to me that, though I'm good at making a variety of breakfast things, I just don't like breakfast. Or more accurately, I don't like breakfast in the morning.
I just can't seem to get excited about eating first thing in the morning. Bacon, eggs, omelets, sausages, the aforementioned French Toast; These are all things I love, just not first thing in the morning. The only thing I'm interested in at that time of day is coffee. Why is it, that all these wonderful things are morning foods? I'll agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it should just happen around noon is all I'm saying.
Even most restaurants only offer their yummy goodness portions of the menu in the mornings. Why do they not want my money in the afternoon? It's a conspiracy. We as a people should demand that they offer breakfast at all hours of the day like Denny's, only not as crappy. (That's right. I said it. Denny's is crap. I cook better breakfast in my sleep.) So what if I want bacon and hash browns at 3 in the afternoon? To quote one of the great lost bards: "It's my prerogative!"
That is all.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Should I worry?
So.....
My friend Shine Out Loud posted a new blog today about some nonsense, so when I got home from work I got excited thinking "(Real name deleted) posted a new blog today. I should make a Margarita, sit down and read it!" Then I realized, I'm making a margarita before I do anything these days.
Now, this wouldn't be such a big deal to me if it wasn't for one teensy little issue: Up until about three months ago I didn't really drink Margaritas. When we moved here we went out with a friend and I figured I'd give theirs a try and before I knew it, I had the fixins in my house. (Though to be fair I did already have the Tequila.)
I don't really know what happened. I mean, when I say I didn't drink margaritas before what I really mean is that I had a bottle of Jose Cuervo 1800 in my liquor cabinet for about 2 years and I just now drank the last of it. I'm not a super big fan of tequila to begin with, furthering my state of wonder at my current infatuation with the wonderfulness that is my new lime-soaked concoction friend.
Maybe it's just yet another vehicle to get salt into my system. Hmm.
I'll ponder this a bit more and let You all know what I come up with. Post any good margarita recipes any of you have and while I wait, I'm gonna go get some more tequila!
My friend Shine Out Loud posted a new blog today about some nonsense, so when I got home from work I got excited thinking "(Real name deleted) posted a new blog today. I should make a Margarita, sit down and read it!" Then I realized, I'm making a margarita before I do anything these days.
Now, this wouldn't be such a big deal to me if it wasn't for one teensy little issue: Up until about three months ago I didn't really drink Margaritas. When we moved here we went out with a friend and I figured I'd give theirs a try and before I knew it, I had the fixins in my house. (Though to be fair I did already have the Tequila.)
I don't really know what happened. I mean, when I say I didn't drink margaritas before what I really mean is that I had a bottle of Jose Cuervo 1800 in my liquor cabinet for about 2 years and I just now drank the last of it. I'm not a super big fan of tequila to begin with, furthering my state of wonder at my current infatuation with the wonderfulness that is my new lime-soaked concoction friend.
Maybe it's just yet another vehicle to get salt into my system. Hmm.
I'll ponder this a bit more and let You all know what I come up with. Post any good margarita recipes any of you have and while I wait, I'm gonna go get some more tequila!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
It's Sunday.... I'm late for Friday.
I know. I know. I didn't post on Friday. A man gets busy. Sue me. (Please don't sue me as I have no money and it might make me cry.)
So......
I've said it before but probably the coolest thing about living in Colorado is the amount of free shit there is to do around here. Or should I say seemingly free shit? Oh sure, you can go hiking in the mountains for free, and camping fees are very cheap, even going out to dinner can have very little fee associated with it if you have the right coupons. However, with the hiking and the fishing and the camping I do have a bit of a gripe: You gotta have a lot of gear and that gear ain't free!
I can already hear the people trying to argue with this. "You don't have to have a lot of gear... just go minimalist!" Fuck you. I don't do minimal. I go overboard. That's how I work. For hiking I feel that you need to have at least a liter of water for every mile, a roll of T.P. for emergencies, two knives, if I'm deep-woods hiking than I would want another form of armament as well, a G.P.S., snacks, and a spare set of clothes. And that's just for hiking. I've never even been camping before but when I do finally get to go I would want all the amenities of home. A camp stove would be a must. We'd possibly need a bigger tent. I don't have a sleeping bag yet. Mess kits and utensils for camping would be needed. There's also probably a lot of other things we would need that I don't even know about because, as mentioned above, I haven't ever been camping. The gear for the hiking I already have, but I've been shopping around for the camping gear and that brings me to my question of the day:
Why is it so expensive to take advantage of free things to do?
This shit is pricey. Really pricey. I've been trying to off-set some of the cost by shopping at Arvada Military Surplus store, but even still I could get wiped out by how much all this stuff is. I'm actually having to practice patience and not just buy everything I want all at once cause I just can't afford it all right now. And that's just not me.
But really. All I want to do is enjoy some of this nature stuff before someone decides to drill for oil here. So why is it you make me pay through the nose for the gear to do so? Don't you think that there should be a free service that has all the gear you need? For a state that touts its natural beauty as much as Colorado does, you'd think they would have state funded "Camping Stations" set up at scenic areas with the campsite all set up and everything ready to go so all you have to do is hike in, throw your gear down, go down to the lake and catch some dinner, come back and cook it, get drunk, and repeat the next day. When you're done camping, all you do is hike away and the Camping Station attendants (housekeeping staff without the house) comes into the site and preps everything for the next reservation. I'm thinking an outdoor hotel. Come to think of it, that's not a bad idea for a business...
So......
I've said it before but probably the coolest thing about living in Colorado is the amount of free shit there is to do around here. Or should I say seemingly free shit? Oh sure, you can go hiking in the mountains for free, and camping fees are very cheap, even going out to dinner can have very little fee associated with it if you have the right coupons. However, with the hiking and the fishing and the camping I do have a bit of a gripe: You gotta have a lot of gear and that gear ain't free!
I can already hear the people trying to argue with this. "You don't have to have a lot of gear... just go minimalist!" Fuck you. I don't do minimal. I go overboard. That's how I work. For hiking I feel that you need to have at least a liter of water for every mile, a roll of T.P. for emergencies, two knives, if I'm deep-woods hiking than I would want another form of armament as well, a G.P.S., snacks, and a spare set of clothes. And that's just for hiking. I've never even been camping before but when I do finally get to go I would want all the amenities of home. A camp stove would be a must. We'd possibly need a bigger tent. I don't have a sleeping bag yet. Mess kits and utensils for camping would be needed. There's also probably a lot of other things we would need that I don't even know about because, as mentioned above, I haven't ever been camping. The gear for the hiking I already have, but I've been shopping around for the camping gear and that brings me to my question of the day:
Why is it so expensive to take advantage of free things to do?
This shit is pricey. Really pricey. I've been trying to off-set some of the cost by shopping at Arvada Military Surplus store, but even still I could get wiped out by how much all this stuff is. I'm actually having to practice patience and not just buy everything I want all at once cause I just can't afford it all right now. And that's just not me.
But really. All I want to do is enjoy some of this nature stuff before someone decides to drill for oil here. So why is it you make me pay through the nose for the gear to do so? Don't you think that there should be a free service that has all the gear you need? For a state that touts its natural beauty as much as Colorado does, you'd think they would have state funded "Camping Stations" set up at scenic areas with the campsite all set up and everything ready to go so all you have to do is hike in, throw your gear down, go down to the lake and catch some dinner, come back and cook it, get drunk, and repeat the next day. When you're done camping, all you do is hike away and the Camping Station attendants (housekeeping staff without the house) comes into the site and preps everything for the next reservation. I'm thinking an outdoor hotel. Come to think of it, that's not a bad idea for a business...
Friday, August 21, 2009
Surprises
So......
Now that I've started the whole blogging thing I love that I get people telling me that it's time for me to put up a new blog. It keeps me consistent. I really am grateful for people that push me to keep going no matter how much I want to just loaf around and not do anything. Which brings me to a blog topic that is (strangely) not me complaining about something. I was going to complain about something tonight, but I really want to talk about my good fortune this evening. Pay attention folks. I'm about to say something nice. Don't get used to it cause it will probably not happen very often.
I love my in-laws. There. I said it. I do! My wife and I dated in high school and even after she went off to college and we were not together anymore, I still loved her family. During the time that I probably should have been at college, her sister was one of my best friends. I stopped by regularly at her mother's house to chat. Her father has always been someone I admired for a variety of different reasons. Even the man her sister eventually married was someone I thought was cool from the day I met him back in high school. When I did finally get to know her brother, I found out he was someone people just wanted to be around. And his wife was so much like me in a lot of respects that we didn't get along at first, but nowadays i think she's pretty all right too. In some of the darkest times in my life, I've known that there were people out there I could count on to get me through and I have always thought that I'm pretty lucky for that.
So when my wife and I eventually did rekindle our relationship after many years and get married, I got all these people attached to me for the rest of my life. And I couldn't be happier.
I spoke to my mother-in-law tonight and she asked me when I was going to post another blog. I was really kind of shocked by this. I knew she had been reading my blog. I knew the my father-in-law had been reading too. But I'd never thought that it would be something that they would anticipate. Though I never doubted their love for me as family, I'd always suspected that they kind of looked at me as kind of a bumbling oaf. I never would have figured them for appreciators of my brand of sarcastic insight. I'm pretty surprised to find out they like it.
It's not that they don't have senses of humor. Far from it. They have a great sense of humor. I say "A" great sense of humor cause I don't think I've ever heard both of them laugh at the same time. They just don't seem to find the same things funny I guess. But I'm getting off topic.
I wondered after speaking to her what it is that makes them "get" what I say in my blogs. And then I realized: I don't really know much about them. All this time I've known them (15 years. EEK!) and I still don't really know them as people, just as the parents of my wife. Heck, when I saw them last time I called one of them by their first name and it actually felt like I broke something as I've never even bothered to ask them what they would like to be called by their son-in-law. I know all about what they're like as parents but I've never stopped to contemplate the fact that parents are people too. Not mine mind you, but you get the idea.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: Get to know your parents. Get to know your in-laws. You might just be surprised to find out that they're pretty cool. After all, you and your spouse had to get it from somewhere right?
Now that I've started the whole blogging thing I love that I get people telling me that it's time for me to put up a new blog. It keeps me consistent. I really am grateful for people that push me to keep going no matter how much I want to just loaf around and not do anything. Which brings me to a blog topic that is (strangely) not me complaining about something. I was going to complain about something tonight, but I really want to talk about my good fortune this evening. Pay attention folks. I'm about to say something nice. Don't get used to it cause it will probably not happen very often.
I love my in-laws. There. I said it. I do! My wife and I dated in high school and even after she went off to college and we were not together anymore, I still loved her family. During the time that I probably should have been at college, her sister was one of my best friends. I stopped by regularly at her mother's house to chat. Her father has always been someone I admired for a variety of different reasons. Even the man her sister eventually married was someone I thought was cool from the day I met him back in high school. When I did finally get to know her brother, I found out he was someone people just wanted to be around. And his wife was so much like me in a lot of respects that we didn't get along at first, but nowadays i think she's pretty all right too. In some of the darkest times in my life, I've known that there were people out there I could count on to get me through and I have always thought that I'm pretty lucky for that.
So when my wife and I eventually did rekindle our relationship after many years and get married, I got all these people attached to me for the rest of my life. And I couldn't be happier.
I spoke to my mother-in-law tonight and she asked me when I was going to post another blog. I was really kind of shocked by this. I knew she had been reading my blog. I knew the my father-in-law had been reading too. But I'd never thought that it would be something that they would anticipate. Though I never doubted their love for me as family, I'd always suspected that they kind of looked at me as kind of a bumbling oaf. I never would have figured them for appreciators of my brand of sarcastic insight. I'm pretty surprised to find out they like it.
It's not that they don't have senses of humor. Far from it. They have a great sense of humor. I say "A" great sense of humor cause I don't think I've ever heard both of them laugh at the same time. They just don't seem to find the same things funny I guess. But I'm getting off topic.
I wondered after speaking to her what it is that makes them "get" what I say in my blogs. And then I realized: I don't really know much about them. All this time I've known them (15 years. EEK!) and I still don't really know them as people, just as the parents of my wife. Heck, when I saw them last time I called one of them by their first name and it actually felt like I broke something as I've never even bothered to ask them what they would like to be called by their son-in-law. I know all about what they're like as parents but I've never stopped to contemplate the fact that parents are people too. Not mine mind you, but you get the idea.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: Get to know your parents. Get to know your in-laws. You might just be surprised to find out that they're pretty cool. After all, you and your spouse had to get it from somewhere right?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Shopping Extravaganza!
So.......
Yesterday the wife and I went shopping to get me some new shoes. Mine seem to be falling apart and all I can do about it is bitch. Because even though I'm 32 years old, I still have some sort of anxiety attached to shoe shopping. Or any shopping really. I just cant see the fun in it like some people do. About the only fun I had during the trip was the wife's giggly school girl reaction to a particular shoe brand name:
I mean seriously, who thinks this is a good name for their company? The only way the name could be any funnier is if some guy named Harold became a partner and insisted his name be first on the box. Think of the ad slogans! "When you're shopping for shoes, the only box you want has Harry Nunn Bush on it." Best radio ad ever. Fucking genius.
But I digress.
So we're out shopping, and I realize that I might just be too picky about footwear. I have a brand I like, and I like to stick with it. I've always been that way. It helps cut down on the decision making. Is that really so bad? When I was a kid, it was nothing but All Condition Gear from Nike for sneakers, and Bostonians for dress shoes. but about 9 years ago, I found the glory that is Ecco. Now, set aside the fact that they're a tiny bit more expensive than other shoes, and just concentrate on the pros: They fit amazing, they last forever, and nothing feels better if you're on your feet all day like those of us in retail. In the past nine years I have had 2 pairs of dress shoes from them (I actually wore through the sole of the first pair after 5 years) and a pair of sandals that I bought about 7 years ago that I still wear to this day though it was probably time to replace them last year. I'd say that's a pretty impressive track record for shoes. What's wrong with sticking with a brand that you know works? In the same amount of time, I've gone through about 3 pairs of Sketchers sneakers, a pair of Nike sneakers, and an off-brand pair as well. And now I find myself in the odd position of needing a more diversified selection of shoes. (You mean I should own a black and a brown pair of dress shoes? Who knew?)
So I was kicking around the Ecco website thinking "Golly! It sure would be nice to see all these wonderful shoes on display somewhere!" and then the wife insists that we go shopping for shoes because we're going hiking this weekend and all my non-dress shoes are literally falling apart. So off we go to the mall in Broomfield, CO! We go into the DSW up there and the wife goes into shoe overdrive, but I can't find anything I'm too excited about. When we go into the mall proper, we find a gem of a store called The Walking Company that actually has all the Ecco shoes on display! Dress shoes, sneakers, sandals, Ecco's insanely light hiking boots, they had it all. It was as though I had reached the promised land. All I could think was how I could have gotten a pair of everything they had there and been blissfully happy. But then the downside of Ecco hit me. They're expensive. Not really all that expensive when compared to the top American name brands, but still more expensive than my broke-ass can afford when needing about 3 or 4 different kinds of shoes at one time. Ugh. Why am I so picky? Why must quality cost so much? Damn Euros. So I didn't get any shoes that day, went home empty handed, and cried myself to sleep pining for all the wonderful shoes I can't have and refusing to compromise with a lesser brand. Dilemma.
Ah well, at least I got excited about shopping for a little while.
Yesterday the wife and I went shopping to get me some new shoes. Mine seem to be falling apart and all I can do about it is bitch. Because even though I'm 32 years old, I still have some sort of anxiety attached to shoe shopping. Or any shopping really. I just cant see the fun in it like some people do. About the only fun I had during the trip was the wife's giggly school girl reaction to a particular shoe brand name:
I mean seriously, who thinks this is a good name for their company? The only way the name could be any funnier is if some guy named Harold became a partner and insisted his name be first on the box. Think of the ad slogans! "When you're shopping for shoes, the only box you want has Harry Nunn Bush on it." Best radio ad ever. Fucking genius.But I digress.
So we're out shopping, and I realize that I might just be too picky about footwear. I have a brand I like, and I like to stick with it. I've always been that way. It helps cut down on the decision making. Is that really so bad? When I was a kid, it was nothing but All Condition Gear from Nike for sneakers, and Bostonians for dress shoes. but about 9 years ago, I found the glory that is Ecco. Now, set aside the fact that they're a tiny bit more expensive than other shoes, and just concentrate on the pros: They fit amazing, they last forever, and nothing feels better if you're on your feet all day like those of us in retail. In the past nine years I have had 2 pairs of dress shoes from them (I actually wore through the sole of the first pair after 5 years) and a pair of sandals that I bought about 7 years ago that I still wear to this day though it was probably time to replace them last year. I'd say that's a pretty impressive track record for shoes. What's wrong with sticking with a brand that you know works? In the same amount of time, I've gone through about 3 pairs of Sketchers sneakers, a pair of Nike sneakers, and an off-brand pair as well. And now I find myself in the odd position of needing a more diversified selection of shoes. (You mean I should own a black and a brown pair of dress shoes? Who knew?)
So I was kicking around the Ecco website thinking "Golly! It sure would be nice to see all these wonderful shoes on display somewhere!" and then the wife insists that we go shopping for shoes because we're going hiking this weekend and all my non-dress shoes are literally falling apart. So off we go to the mall in Broomfield, CO! We go into the DSW up there and the wife goes into shoe overdrive, but I can't find anything I'm too excited about. When we go into the mall proper, we find a gem of a store called The Walking Company that actually has all the Ecco shoes on display! Dress shoes, sneakers, sandals, Ecco's insanely light hiking boots, they had it all. It was as though I had reached the promised land. All I could think was how I could have gotten a pair of everything they had there and been blissfully happy. But then the downside of Ecco hit me. They're expensive. Not really all that expensive when compared to the top American name brands, but still more expensive than my broke-ass can afford when needing about 3 or 4 different kinds of shoes at one time. Ugh. Why am I so picky? Why must quality cost so much? Damn Euros. So I didn't get any shoes that day, went home empty handed, and cried myself to sleep pining for all the wonderful shoes I can't have and refusing to compromise with a lesser brand. Dilemma.
Ah well, at least I got excited about shopping for a little while.
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